title: Isolation and characterization of a novel member of the neural zinc finger factor/myelin transcription factor family with transcriptional repression activity.
abstract: Myelin transcription factor 1 (MyT1) and neural zinc finger factor 1 (NZF-1) represent the first two members of an emerging family of neural specific, zinc finger-containing DNA-binding proteins. MyT1 has been shown recently to play a critical role in neuronal cell differentiation during development. We have cloned the third member of the NZF/MyT family, referred to as neural zinc finger factor 3 (NZF-3). The cDNA sequence predicts a protein of 1,032 amino acids which contains two clusters of zinc fingers similar to MyT1 and NZF-1. Unlike MyT1 and NZF-1, NZF-3 does not contain an acidic domain at the amino terminus or a serine/threonine-rich region between the two finger clusters. NZF-3 binds to a DNA element containing a single copy of the previously described AAAGTTT consensus motif for these factors but exhibits a marked enhancement in relative affinity to a bipartite element containing two copies of the consensus motif. In contrast to MyT1 and NZF-1, which are known to activate transcription, cotransfection experiments revealed that NZF-3 confers repression on the basal activity of promoters containing the consensus binding elements. The identification of an additional member of the NZF/MyT family provides an opportunity to investigate the relative contribution of members of this family of transcription factors to the complex regulatory processes in neural development and homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 30 Medical Drive, Singapore 117609, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Yee
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C078341:MYT1 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C099432:Myt1l protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C110961:ST18 protein, rat; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; C490680:Myt1 kinase, rat; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C490679:PKMYT1 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases